Healthy Habits, Happy Families: 5 Simple Steps for a Thriving 2025

It’s a brand-new year, and there’s no better time to hit the reset button and build habits that support your family’s growth, well-being, and connection.

In today’s episode, we’re diving into Healthy Habits for 2025—practical routines and intentional choices that can transform your home life into one that feels balanced, productive, and happy.

We’ll explore five key areas... you don't want to miss them!

Building healthy habits isn’t about being perfect; it’s about making small, intentional changes that bring more flow and ease into your daily life. 

When we cultivate these habits, we reduce stress, improve health, boost productivity, and create a positive environment that nurtures everyone’s emotional and physical development.

So, grab your favorite cup of coffee or tea, and let’s start the new year with purpose.

Together, we’ll set you and your family up for a fulfilling and vibrant 2025.

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And if you haven’t already, grab one of my free parenting guides by signing up for my email list. You don’t want to miss out—these resources are packed with tools to help you navigate the early years with intention and ease.

Let’s start winning together—one turn at a time!

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LIGHT BULBS Mentioned in this episode.
Himalayan Night Lights.

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contact@HyerLearning.com

www.HyerLearning.com

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Transcript

Erin: 0:00

The point here is where are you now at your morning and your evening? Quote, unquote routines. Have you created any patterns what's working for you? What's not. Where's the level of stress and yes, there's going to be a period. Like if somebody is sick or if, somebody woke up in the middle of the night because there was a lightning storm or whatever. There will be days where it will be. Hello, and welcome to Talking Toddlers, where I share more than just tips and tricks on how to reduce tantrums or build your toddler's vocabulary. We're going to cover all of that, but here, our goal is to develop clarity, because in this modern world, it's truly overwhelming. This podcast is about empowering moms to know the difference between fact and fiction, to never give up, to tap into everyday activities so your child stays on track. He's not falling behind. He's thriving through your guidance. We know that true learning starts at home. So let's get started. it's a brand new year and there's no better time to hit the reset button. And build habits that support your family's growth. Wellbeing and connections. in today's episode, we're diving into five healthy habits that I selected for you. To really embrace in 2025. I look at them as practical routines and intentional choices. These can really transform your home life into one that feels balanced and productive and honestly more fun. Building healthy habits. Isn't about being perfect. It's about making small, intentional changes that bring more flow and ease into your daily routines. When we cultivate these habits, we can truly reduce stress, improve everybody's health boost productivity, and create a positive home life. Environment that nurtures everyone's emotional and physical development because when you bring a new baby home, And then they begin crawling and walking and talking. Everything changes. And you mom, you know, this and dad and grandparents were all learning on the job and were both the children and the adults are growing emotionally and physically. So by creating healthy habits, Everybody benefits no matter where you're listening today. I thank you for taking time to truly want to learn and want to create the home of your dreams. starting this year with purpose and intention. That's great. First step. And, I get it. We all make quote unquote new year goals or new year resolutions. And then we often most likely fall short. But. I believe it's rarely one and done. So as I planned out these five healthy habits. I wanted to highlight them today. Give you a little background to them, maybe the benefits. And then in future episodes, we'll dive deeper behind it and what are some of. Not only the benefits, but how do people really implement them and become successful? We know that by studying human behavior and human growth and development. We really can't take on more than three specific targets at a time if we want to succeed. So, although I'm highlighting five, go ahead and pick one or two, just to get started just to move the needle a little bit and gain some momentum. Because I don't want to give you the impression that we all need to jump in and tackle five or eight or 10 all at the same time. No. Listen to the five. And then as we move forward, we'll dive deeper into each of them. And you can adjust as you move along. So let's get started. Habit number one is really looking at building AM and PM routines. And the purpose of this is to build structure because that will set the tone for your entire day. As well as ensure some peaceful wind down into the evening. And low and behold build healthy sleep habits for both you mom. And dad. And your babies right? Again, we're not looking for perfection, but we need a plan. Because without a plan, what do we do? We end up running in circles. So let's highlight a couple of specific for the morning. And then again, in the evening, your morning routines. I would like you to really shoot for starting. And giving yourself at least 15 minutes all to your own, right? All to yourself. Maybe it's just a sit down. breathe quietly with a quiet house. Maybe you like journaling or maybe you're interested in starting to journal. Maybe you just want to sit down and have a cup of tea or your first cup of coffee without any interruption. So I gave myself a whole hour and the truth is I still do, even with, you know, my husband and no kids in the house, I will get up a good hour before the sunrises. Or before, any email that I have to check or my husband or phone calls or any of that. But I feel blessed that I have felt naturally to be an early morning riser. And I know a lot of people aren't, but habits are created by doing something over and over again. And then it becomes yours. So go ahead and work up to it, right? Give yourself 15 minutes and then 20 and then build up to at least. 30 minutes of quiet time for yourself. The other part of building. Am and PM routines is to be consistent. So wake up time for everyone in the house. Truly supports our natural circadian rhythm I've talked about the circadian rhythm and I'm sure you've heard of it, but that's our biological clocks that need to get in sync with sunrise and sunset. This is how the human body is wired. And, part of this discussion today is looking at what are some of the modern techniques or I'm sorry, modern advances that have disrupted some of our healthy lifestyle and. Artificial lights is one of them. And I'll talk about that later on tonight. But it's important to wake up and go to bed at the same time. And, and we'll talk about the science behind that, but just think about. Are you consistent or nearly consistent. And how is that affecting your children? Babies, toddlers, preschoolers, as well as you, the adults. The next thing I want you to consider is to create. predictable steps in the morning. Again, it's not rigid. It's not carved in stone. But when you have a baby and a toddler and. And a very, very young preschooler you're helping them build. A rhythm to their day. and creating regular routines, regular steps helps build that not only internal biological clock, but that self-regulation. So, do you first wake up and then there's a diaper change and then we have breakfast and then there's a little short family time or book time or. Together we'll load the dishwasher time, whatever the routine is. Try to be consistent from morning to morning to morning to morning. It will ease your day and help them build predictability. Again, our babies coming into this world kind of shocked, right? They have no idea what's going on, but by the time they're really building a relationship with you at three, four or five months of age. The routines should be kicking in. And this predictability will help your little one learn what to expect. And so they're not always being jarred into this transition and that transition. It builds that internal anticipation and. To anticipate is, is really as a way of knowing which calms their internal clock or their internal self. Right. And you, and I know when we walk into. A novel situation and we don't know what to expect. It's very uncomfortable and we don't want your or toddler to be uncomfortable in his own home. Right. Or to be uncomfortable in his own skin. And this is why we call it self regulation, because they know that, oh, when I wake up in the crib within a few minutes or a little while, right. And this is all subconscious. Someone's going to come in and greet me. And then we're gonna have a happy moment. And then I'm going to get out of these, this wet clothing or this uncomfortable diaper, or if it's really uncomfortable, I know I can yell or scream or holler and someone will respond. That builds that, that self-regulation because they have experienced this. A number of times. And if we know what to expect, then all of us move out of that fight and flight state into what we call rest and digest. So it helps with digestion, of course, but it also helps with that resting posture and being ready for the next thing. And when we're in that calm sense, then we're open, we're open to attend to whomever comes to greet me. We're open to engaging with them and having a fun moment. And then we're open to learning. So now let's look on the other side of this coin. About routines and look at what does your evening routine look like? Do you have. Pre bedtime rituals or pre bedtime patterns that once again are building that predictability for them. Perhaps you take a bath. Brush your teeth. And there are some stories, some cuddles you talk about your day. And you really transition into. from the living room, the living state into the bedroom where, and we'll talk about lights again. But where it's more calm and it's darker and it's warmer, or actually it should be cooler. Right. But you have PJ's on and. They begin to sync up with this transition. And keep in mind that the brain looks for patterns. And so if you have these routines that you do, or these quote unquote rituals, There's a bath and then there's a story and then there's a cuddle and then there's laying down and talking. And even if it takes 20 minutes or 30 minutes, Then the brain is looking for these patterns and it can go into a relaxed state. like I said earlier, this predictability at am and PM really creates your child to be more regulated, more self-regulated. And they're not anxious or uncomfortable, and if we want our children and I know you do to learn and grow and develop language and become a healthy eater and socially. engaging and helpful and all of these beautiful attributes of being an active human and act and family member. Then these routines, these predictable scenarios will help them create that internally. And so, looking at lights again, like I've mentioned. I plan on doing a deeper dive, in a future of a very near future episode about internal lights, right? Artificial lighting, home lighting, school lighting, even. Um, and partly because I've had a number of new moms, talk to me about how do I get my kid to settle down at night? we're having. Uh, sleep issues. And the truth is. Artificial in door lighting has really messed with everyone. And I think it's not only the light bulbs that we use and the overhead light and the brightness and all of that. But this, the screens that we're looking at. And you know how I feel about, um, screens with toddlers. And it's not healthy for them. but for today's episode, I'm just going to put a link down below in the description. that will show you a bulb that I use frequently. It's an Amber shade. I highly recommend it to lots of people and you can get it in the grocery store. I just now buy them in bulk, uh, through Amazon. But, I want you to think about the sun rise and the sunset colors. And that's what we're striving for because you know, prior to a hundred and hundred and 20 years ago, whenever indoor lighting became regular for everybody. We really lived by the sunrise and the sunsets. And that's how our biological clock is wired. And that's just basic human nature. And it helps us transition to sleep. And then it helps us transition to day time and alertness and readiness, right. With a sense of calm, we've had a good night's sleep and now we're ready to, to greet the day and engage with whatever set in your schedule. I think it's important to just consider these kinds of things. I look around the room and one of this. Stark things. Cause I remember my husband, getting up in the middle of the night and flipping on that bathroom light to go to the bathroom and I understand, men have to see what they're doing, unlike us woman, that we can kind of fumble our way through the, the bathroom. But I went, no, we have to stop that. That's. That's that startling to your sleep. Protocol and, and your, your whole, circadian rhythm. Right? And so we started using Himalayan salt lamps as a nightlight. You, so you can get little ones to plug in as a nightlight. And that really changed our world. And we did that a number of years ago. I put it in my daughter's bedroom and the guest bedroom and the downstairs bathroom. And it just really helped again. With keeping, if it's dark. Let's stay in the dark mode and, and then we'll wake up when the sunrise. But part of your evening routine is also preparing and getting ready for that morning. and I know there's a lot of people on the internet these days. Instagram and Tik, TOK and YouTube, really talking about, how do you set the stage for the next day? Perhaps laying out clothes or preparing snacks or lunches. But also tidying up the kitchen and loading the dishwasher. Perhaps you can do this together, but it really helps. the completion of that day, but then when you do wake up, hopefully 15, 20, 30 minutes before the rest of the house, then you can enter a calm, clean. Kitchen. And household, and that doesn't mean that you necessarily have to. Scrub and clean and make everything perfect. It's just organized. There's a flow to it. Right. And prepping means just a smoother morning routine, whether it's your tea or coffee or your. Your water, you know, setting the dog food out, getting bottles, set up. Uh, that first breakfast meal that can be relatively smooth and easy. But the more we can prep the night before. And then I find, because when I don't do this, it's, it's just, Complete mayhem. I think even without children. we're rushing. Where are my keys? Where's my purse. Where's my other shoe. And the dirty dishes just pile up in the sink and it goes on and on and on. But. The point here is where are you now at your morning and your evening? Quote, unquote routines. Have you created any patterns what's working for you? What's not. Where's the level of stress and yes, there's going to be a period. Like if somebody is sick or if, somebody woke up in the middle of the night because there was a lightning storm or whatever. There will be days where it will be. Disorganized or less fluid. But for the most part, I want you to just think about, are there a lot of meltdowns and tantrums. Do you forget things and you have to run back in the house, you know, just start asking yourself these questions and how can I make 20, 25 better. And what phase am I going through? Is do I have a six month old? Do I have a 12 month old? Do I have an 18 month old? Are we practicing getting ready and out the door because we're going to a preschool, whatever the scenario is, stop and be okay with, Analyzing, where am I? And what. Of these elements, these five, healthy habits that I'm, I'm outlining today. What perhaps am I open? To administrating or implementing. So the other part of winding down at night time is. And this is why consistency is key. It also gives you mom and dad. Time together. where you can read or reflect or talk, or even prep the kitchen together. Calmly and peacefully again, not scrubbing. But, getting it organized. perhaps this is a good time to write down in your journal, your baby book or this or that, or chat. The key here is to spend some time either by yourself or with your partner without screens. And I know that's tricky. I know it. I know it. I know. Cause it's like, oh, I just want to. Plop down. And, watch a show. And we all do that, including me. And I've caught myself in the last month, six weeks. Bingeing on shows and that's just incredibly unhealthy. And. I, totally understand it, especially when you have a little one and you just want to chill. But it's more healthy. If I can say it that way or it's healthier. And more beneficial to building a healthy lifestyle. To create these more quiet non-screen times where even if it's 20 minutes and you're just having a cup of tea, like I said, or looking at. At a book or a magazine. And chatting together. And I will be honest with this as well as, as I was putting my notes together. I remember distinctly. When my daughter was a toddler, I'd say, you know, two to three before she went into preschool. That I had a big practice. I had six or seven therapists. And I would schedule a good hour to 90 minutes of work time once she was down. But I would also block out to be done and give myself a good 30, 45 minutes. Where I could just lay in bed and read a book for pleasure. And, I come from the school of thought that it's, you want your mind and your heart, your soul. To be relaxed and to think about positive things. Uh, as you fall asleep. And so keep that in mind, think about that, I've been in your shoes. I totally get it. Especially if you work outside of the house, but. It's always great to take these new beginnings, whether it's the beginning of a new year or the beginning of a new month, the beginning of a new chapter. And evaluate and say, okay, how can I tweak this and get better? All right. Habit number two. Best nutritional choices. And as you can figure out, I talk a lot about food choices and healthy eating. But basically it's fueling your body and your mind for optimal energy, optimal growth and development. And my three pillars here are talk. Eat and play. And if you're new here, it's about how these three pillars are synergistic. They have to work together. If you want to really build a healthy home life, which then allows healthy development. And I think a lot of our developmental issues that we're facing and I do look at them as a crises. That we can alleviate them, mitigate them and even completely avoid them. And at least 50 or 60% of the time. If we really look at our lifestyle choices. So. Eating. Talking and plane are synergistic and we have to be honest if we really want to move that needle. So for 2025, let's look at how can we do that best? And I'm going to just outline some key points here. And then, as I said, in other episodes, we'll do deep dive and I have some remarkable guests that are coming our way. So that's very exciting for 2025. But let's focus on whole minimal to no processed foods. And I know the whole no process is. can be disturbing to some people, but if we really look at how do we want to build a healthy mind, body and spirit than. The food choices should be high on our list. So my challenge for this episode is just for you to start to evaluate where you are now. And perhaps look for concrete ways to change and grow and do better. Right? These five habits can really change the trajectory of your whole family. Right? and so let's look at it for toddlers. Let's look at it for adults, but the truth is. It's the same. What we want and what we learn about. Our food choices and the other habits. Is the exact same thing that we can apply for our children. So for toddlers, think about how we can incorporate, the rainbow, right? Those colorful fruits and vegetables. And that's. Relatively easy for most families to know how to choose those. But I think it's really more important to look on how can we include healthy, healthy fats. Because I think 65 70. Percent of the brain. Feeds on fats are healthy fats, and we can talk about what a healthy fat looks like. Eggs and avocados are better than. A muffin. but we need healthy fats and a lot of good protein. And here for just for today, I just want to put a caution on whole grains. Because that can become a slippery slope. That's typically where the highly processed foods and up, right? The crackers, the cookies, the pasta. The breads, all of that is highly, highly ultra processed in the end. And so we have two. Rethink that I think, and again, walking into 2025 is a perfect time to learn and try some, some new habit creating. But as I said, that's more in future episodes. So for today, just look in your fridge, look in your cupboards. Look in the pantry. What do you have? What do you lean toward? Easy and, you know, quick, or are you willing to do some home cooking, some simple meal prepping, And we'll talk a little bit about that, but this is also. A good thing to do is to perhaps look in your grocery cart at the end, right before you check out, look and say, Hmm. Do I have a lot of things in boxes and bags. That's ultra processed. Right. So think about that. And like I said, we'll dive more in the near future. I do like to share what I've, done personally and what I've learned for my families over the years and bringing guests because there's a lot more pediatric nutrition specialists. There's a lot more. MDs and natural paths that are really walking this path and helping parents navigate this kind of food crisis that we're in. I will breathe, bring the experts and highlight some articles and then you can review, you make the choices. and play around with it, but, The elephant in the room. Is that Americans are unhealthy. Right. And I think it starts in the kitchen. And our children are struggling and that starts in the kitchen. And what I've witnessed over the last 35 years, just personally and professionally. We have to connect what goes in our mouth with how we act and feel, and learn, and sleep and engage with the world, our energy, our mood. And I believe that we all, all of us can do better. Then we will feel better and then we will be better. Okay, so now let's move on to habit. Number three, that I want you to look at for 2025. And that is your playtime together. The purpose here at making this. A goal for 2025. Is that. Generally, as you all understand is strengthens the bonds between you and your baby, you and your toddler. It builds his or her cognitive social and motor development. And I talk a lot about play here. But it's playing together that I want you to look at and focus on. Right. And, and being much more intentional and purposeful with your playful interactions. So one goal to look at is that your daily play focus should be at least 20 to 30 minutes of on interrupted. Play with your toddler. And the key is that you follow their lead. And what that means simply is it, it isn't that you let them run a muck, right. And you just let them go for it. But if they're interested in certain things, then that's what you play with. That's what you choose because the toy isn't important here. And, and I have shared with you in the past that I'm not pushing quote unquote academics. With our little ones, either. Maybe as a three and a half to a four year old, then you can get into specifics about shapes and colors and numbers and letter alphabets and all of that. But in the beginning, those first three years really engaged together. With whatever that's interesting to him building blocks. Pretend play or dress up puzzles. Art projects coloring. Bubbles songs, books like with my daughter, I really because I loved coloring. I loved, I wasn't really arts and crafts per se, but I loved coloring. And, my daughter wasn't interested in coloring at all. I mean, it was, she's like, But she loved songs and music and dancing. She loved, loved, loved books. and dress up and pretend. And she was much more creative in her play than structured. And with my, 35 years of practice and meeting thousands of children. Uh, and spending hundreds of hours in a wide variety of preschool settings. I've seen it all. And so you have to really respect who they are, their temperament, their style and what they bring to the table and then go with that. But play time, really fosters. Their ability to focus and engage and, cooperation, right? How do you get your kids to cooperate? But it also helps in bonding the family. And so even if you have a toddler say two or three and you have a baby, a newborn. Well, then you do tummy time together. Right on the floor and you roll the ball. And you get your toddler to help your, your, your new baby. Engaged together on the floor and build those tummy time muscles and tolerance level. Right. Also, I talk a lot about getting out doors, Those simple outdoor activities, like catching a ball or going for it, nature walks, or just simply getting the mail right at the end of the day. and I talk about. just helping that transition. As the sun is beginning to set. It helps with that circadian rhythm, but it was also changes up, right. If you've been in the house for hours upon hours, it feels like just going outside and getting the mail or bringing in the trash buckets or. Picking some weeds, whatever it is to change the environment. But also do it together. That's playful. And then. The third piece to. playing together and your playtime is, and I've mentioned this before, but rotating toys almost weekly or every couple of weeks, right. To keep things fresh, to help stimulate their thinking without overwhelming. And believe me, I've gone again to a number of houses over the years and their quote unquote toy room is just mayhem. Right? It's just disorganized or sometimes as organized sometimes. Times it's not. This does not help their play skills. This does not help build. Their attention and their focus and their creativity, right. When there's a lot of stuff all over the place, I've even walked into Preschool settings where it's just. Overwhelming. And this cupboards that are sky high. And from one end of the wall to the other and things are hidden here and there and everywhere. And I understand that, School settings have a lot of stuff. But I don't think it's conducive to helping kids. and we'll talk more specifically in future in 2025, about what does it really mean to rotate toys, but recognize that this sense of overwhelming and you have to have a lot of stuff, especially with little ones, 1, 2, 3, even four. They don't need that. It's it's less is truly more. And if we limit their choices, then they learn how to get creative with what they have. If we limit their choices, then they will be able to learn how to sustain attention with one or two things. And if we limit their choices, they get a lot of healthy repetition, which then builds mastery. And curiosity. Right. So just think about that with habit. Number three of a playtime together. Habit number four would be daily movement. And you thinking, oh, well that goes hand in hand. Well, not necessarily play can be. Simply looking at books or singing songs or, lagging on the grass and telling silly tails. But real movement. promotes physical health reduces stress. For both the adults in your family and the kids. And like I said, in the very beginning, all of these things are great. Habits for your little ones, but they're also just as equally. Great for us. So movement for toddlers. Think of it this way. Aim for about 60 minutes of active play a day and not in, a 60 minute workout. It's 15 minutes here and 15 minutes there, but it's dancing and climbing and running and hopping and rolling and all kinds of true movement patterns up and down the stairs. Again, I remember my daughter. Mastering or wanting to master stairs and we would go for a walk outside. They're in Pasadena, California. And. We would get one or two houses down and she'd see one or two steps. into their walkway and she would just have to go up and down the same two steps over and over and over again, that was her movement. That was where her motor development was fixated on. And I just stood there. Right. but that's what they need. Simple activities like an obstacle course. And I've shared before I used to set up my offices, I used to teach. Families, how to set up obstacle courses inside, especially in the winter. Outside with just natural. Things like blocks and rocks and, Dirt and grass. But you can even go for a scavenger hunt, all kinds of really creative ways that don't cost money. It just costs a little creative time and some planning. But the key here is go outside whenever you can, especially early in the morning as the sun is rising later in the afternoon as the sun is setting. And then any time in between. if the weather isn't in your favor, go on the porch, go on a deck, go in the garage. I do whatever you can to change the environment and move more. So as I was creating my outline for today. I just wanted to bring in a little science behind this movement one, because it's one of our lifestyle choices that we have complete control over. here's some. Science that supports why you mama and dad and grandparents and everybody else, the adults. As well as the children. the benefits of movement, right? it gets oxygen to the brain cells. And we know like when we study. Older people or people in the hospital when they don't move, they, they start to really reduce their cognitive skills. Because. By getting the way that we get oxygen to the brain is that we're, we're increasing the blood flow with the movement. And what does blood do? It carries oxygen up to the brain, right? It promotes new brain cell production. Exercise stimulates the production of nerve growth factors. And then we can create new brain cells. It also creates new synapses. And what happens with your baby is that they have, billions of nerve cells, but they're not synaptic communicating. Right. And movement helps build that. That connectivity exercise also increases the brain derived neurotrophic factor, which is a BDNF. And this helps form new synapses that foster learning and foster memory. Again, it's true for your infant and your toddler. And it's true for older people and anybody in between. You know, but we see it mostly in these extremes on this life continuum of, early child development. And then what happens to say an older person who gets stuck in a retirement home. Um, and I, you know, way back when, when I was in college, I worked for the visiting nurses association and I saw up close. What happens into these? We would call them sniffs, right? Skilled nursing facilities. So movement is. Is incredibly. Vital and both your young children and you grandma and grandpa. And anybody in between, At activates brain regions. And when activities like with my daughter who was learning how to take on stairs, When it's a challenging motor skill, right. That they're enhancing or building. More balance and coordination. It activates the brain regions responsible for cognitive processing. Such as planning, right? That's why obstacle courses are so helpful. Not only fun and engaging, but it's literally building your brain wiring system. It helps with decision-making. Oh, do I crawl under the table or over the table? Would it be faster? If I hopped on one leg or two legs, right. Decision-making and problem solving all of these things go together. When we're hiking in the woods, you have to plan in real time. Do I step on this rocker or do I go around this rock? what about my balance when I step on this, this route, right? It feels different on dirt than it does on pebbles. All kinds of cognitive things are happening when we're moving in, in nature. And when we can't go out into nature, then we do our best. To move inside the house. Right. But regular physical activity can improve memory. Concentration and positivity. The outlook of. You know, Mom and anybody listening, grandparents, we all feel better when we go for a walk around the block, we all feel better when we get up from the chair and do some jumping jacks or air squats. Right. And we get their breath flowing and our blood pumping, we all feel better, right. It reduces distractions for all of us, but especially your young children. And if a child is having difficulty. Attending, which don't get me started. But, um, you know, I was around back in the eighties and nineties when. Add ADHD came to life. Right? And we, we, as a culture started. Started medicating children like young and for a long while, like in the 1990s, we, couldn't even quote unquote diagnose or assess for ADHD until they're seven. So now things have different, right? that's a whole nother. Rabbit hole that we can get down, but children who exercise and move before class. And, intermittently throughout the day are significantly less distracted. And much more attentive to do their work, whether they're five or 15 or 50. And anybody in between. So for you, mama and grandparents and anybody else, that's an active member in this household. Look at 2025 and say, what can I do differently that everybody benefits? And for fun, but also, you know, for information sake in the future I will share a new challenge that I started. At the beginning, beginning of this year and not, I like challenges. because when I don't, I become pretty complacent. And I think that that's just human nature. Right. We get in a rut, we do the same thing. But, it's both a physical and mental challenge and I will. share my success and my challenges. Hence the name. With you in the future, but for now, You knew mama, start with the basics. Start simple. And look at how much am I moving? Am I giving myself time to be by myself? To read or meditate or pray or just breathe, right. Or take a hot bath. No that developing and creating new habits take time. So, go easy on yourself, but also recognize that every day that passes. Things are happening. And the truth is those. Create habits too, but they're maybe less healthy habits or bad habits or destructive habits. Sitting on the couch. And flipping through, show after show. Or, Drinking your second or third glass of wine. I know I've been there. I get it. But. I think it's. Just. Remarkably vital that we all. Look at. Our life choices with honesty and integrity and be willing to step up and, and say, Everything I choose to do affects my children as well as me and vice versa. the key is some family fun, right? Do some yoga together. I have a bowling party inside shoot some baskets. I have simplified with making. Paper balls or softballs and just shooting him in to the trash. Can. Walk on tape, you put. The painter's tape down and you do hopscotch. You can do things inside and outside. Play charades. I'll give you some choices a whole list of things that I've, I have used and recommended with families and used in, in preschools. We used in my clinic. You know, charades some basic ones. If you're trying to teach vocabulary. and expand. From single words to, to phrases then do charades that are verbs, right? A picture of someone jumping or act out swimming or eating or sleeping. All of those action words right now, act like a bird act like a chicken. Uh, slither on the floor, like a snake, pretend to read a book. All of those actions, the list is endless. Be creative. Be open. And that's why. I continually go back that screens are not healthy for any of us. Yes. We have to learn how to live with them and use them, but we also have to put boundaries on them. Okay. So the fifth and the final habit for this year would be you mom, your self care. And, and I've touched upon this in, some of the, the prior four. Healthy habits. But. Really recognize are you recharging yourself? Because if you're able to find that, then you're going to show up differently, right? You're going to be a healthier role model for everybody. And you know, the old saying, Put your oxygen mask on first, right? So. The first thing is carve out. Quote unquote me-time. Whether it's the 15, 20 minutes in the morning. 1520 minutes at night, or you can read or meditate or have tea or stretch, I've started. Part of my 2025 routine is to stretch before I go to bed. I've never used to do that. there are some very specific stretches that will help you relax and get into more of that easy sleep. And then also mom, you might want to. See, if you can schedule a larger break once a week or once every two weeks, Where you can lock yourself in the bathroom and take a bubble bath, or go out for coffee with a friend or, go out to dinner and it could even be an early dinner. I know I used to do that. have a really early dinner with a couple of girlfriends, uh, and then go home and be ready to say goodnight to my, to my daughter. But. I discuss it with your partner, swap with a friend plan ahead. How are you recharging yourself in healthy, meaningful ways? I know a lot of families that the dad has kind of taken over Saturday morning and mom can go to yoga class or go for a hike or. go shopping, whatever to help recalibrate. The second thing, mom is for you to prioritize your sleep. Like I said earlier, stick with a bedtime routine for yourself. Go to bed within a 15 minute window, wake up within a 15 minute window and try your best to get seven or eight hours of sleep. Again, there's tons and tons of good research on this for all of us. But if you make your bedroom calm, right? No screens. I've always said no screens in a bedroom ever. Because bedrooms are for sleeping. Uh, or, you know, intimacy with your, with your partner, but It should be a quiet. Kind of relaxing atmosphere. And if you get in the habit of watching TV in bed, that's really does havoc to our circadian rhythm. But it should be cool and dark and calming again. The lighting is critical. And if we really want all of us to find our best sleep hygiene. Right. And I remember I'll tell you that, When we lived in Vermont, which got really, really, really cold in the winter. When we built our house, we purposely did not put heat upstairs because my husband and I were kind of health nerds, and we knew that a cold dark bedroom was best to sleep in. We did have a big wood burning stove in the great room and these cathedral ceilings. So our bedrooms were above that. It was, it was a timber frame house, but. And the heat rises, right? Of course. And so we would keep the bedroom doors or we would keep our bedroom door closed during the day. My daughter always kept her bedroom. Uh, door open. So her room felt more comfortable. But then I would always open the bedroom door in the winter time. 1520 minutes before I was ready to go to bed, just to kind of break the cold when it's zero outside. But. It really helped with sleeping and. And we created that habit early on in our life. And yes, there have been quote unquote, seasons of disrupted sleep for me. The truth is it's directly related to my bad, my bad habits, right. Too much wine. Too much screen time, too much sugar. Or process food, Too much stress. And of course the infamous menopause that we can talk about later. Perhaps I would. love to share my steep learning curve on that another day, but they're usually life. Life choices, daily habits that interfere and disrupt with our sleep. The point here is to prioritize your sleep forever. for your children, for you at whatever chapter you're going through in your life. And it will only serve you well, And then the last piece. To taking care of you, mom is to really do some mental health check-ins right. reflect on your blessings, your gratitude, perhaps. Journaling. And, and we can talk about strategies around that. One note is that, I've always kind of kept a journal. And I have never really gone back and ever read them. When we moved out of Vermont, I burned them all. So. I just think is very therapeutic. You can do it for a variety of reasons. And we can talk about what that could look like in the future. But, I looked at it as therapeutic. I also do think that if we're truly, truly struggling than, seeking professional help is always. A great choice. whether it's one-on-one support or groups. And if you're hearing pounding. I don't know if you that's being recorded here, but my roof here in Florida is finally being fixed. But, you might need some talk therapy from time to time. I have definitely used it in my past, but I think honestly, if we, as human beings and as new families and parents of young children, but also us grandparents age, right. That if we focus on these five healthy habits. A M and PM routines. Nutritional choices. Play time together at every age daily movement. And then our own personal self care. Then talk therapy or more. specific mental health issues would be more rare, right? And big events, maybe the loss of a parent or the loss. Uh, or a big move or a. Job change those kinds of things that are big events in one's life. Not too. Not necessarily the day to day. But that's another side note. And I just want to highlight that under your own personal care mom, how much I know we give, give, give when we're a new mom. And even when we're in. On a mom of a preteen and teenage we're always giving. So it's important to really look at how much are you. Really focused on taking care of your wellbeing. So to conclude all of this. Healthy habits aren't built overnight. I know, you know, that. But small, consistent steps can really lead to lasting change. And depending on the chapter that you're in or the season that you're going through. Your quote, unquote habits will adjust will be tweaked focus on one habit at a time. I adapt it to your new family. Create the progress and then move on. These five game changing habits, in my opinion. Can create a home that you and your little ones can truly thrive. And look at 2025. I know that kind of rhymes, but the thriving in 2025. Is very, very doable. But we have to stay ahead of it. We have to. Be proactive. And that's my, my mission here. Is to help new young moms be proactive, pull in the grandparents, pull in the dads and create a family that. It really is your dream family. I do have some exciting plans for 2025 that I mentioned earlier that I can't wait new resources. New tools to make your parenting journey. much more fulfilling and successful. Including some guest interviews that will expand all of our learning. And, I'm kind of a geek. I read a lot of science. I study a lot of other people's work and, I want to bring. Them to life here on this podcast. And so when you subscribe to this channel, You'll be the first to know about the updates and the surprises coming your way. And if you're finding value in these conversations, Share with fellow moms who need or want a little inspiration. And if you really are gaining some positive benefits, then consider leaving a review, a positive comment that will help us. expand our reach. Thank you for being a part of this journey and let's make 2025 your best year yet. God bless. And I'll see you next time.